i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. this is "world news." tonight, breaking news. cheers erupt in lower manhattan as the power flickers back on. and under a lot of pressure, new york decides late today to pull the plug on the famous new york marathon this weekend. running on empty. endless lines for gasoline. >> seven hours here already. >> people running out of gas. waiting for a few gallons to take home. waiting for the cold night ahead. we get answers. the challenger. four days to go. the second of our personal portraits of the men who want your vote. and, noah's ark? how would you evacuate a 250-pound walrus? how about a giant octopus? we're there, as trainers decide

what to do when their aquarium flooded and 12,000 creatures are inside. good evening on this friday night. as we come on the air, there is late news about the devastating storm and one of the biggest athletic events in the world. under enormous pressure, new york has canceled the iconic new york city marathon for the first time in history. 40,000 runners from all over the world sidelined. and even a lot of those athletes wondered how anyone ever thought they could possibly run when so many communities around them are suffering. abc's dan harris now on this huge controversy, the big decision and the breaking news tonight. dan? >> reporter: diane, good evening. as you know, the mayor really wanted this race to be run. he hoped it would be a sign of

unity in this crippled city, but he admitted it had become a source of controversy and division. it was scenes like this -- this is your house right here? >> yeah. this is my house. i used to be over there. >> reporter: jux posed against scenes like this that forced the mayor to cancel the marathon. today, we saw them loading in cases of vodka. private party going on in here. and pal lets of water and food. this is a lot of provisions. can't go in this area? but the pictures that truery did not sit well in this city were hundreds of thousands still don't have power, four large diesel generators. how many homes could these things power? >> i don't know. >> reporter: how do you think your neighbors without power would like this thing? >> they'd love it. >> there's children out there who are without blankets, without anything. and then these generators are running. >> reporter: the decision to

cancel the marathon came just hours after the mayor publicly defended the idea. >> new york has to show that we are here and that we're going to recover. >> reporter: tonight, on our local station, wabc, the head of the marathon said it was the toughest decision she'd ever made. >> it was time to just, you know, make this decision and this became a psychological issue for the city. >> reporter: she apologized to the tens of thousands of runners who trained hard and traveled long distances in many cases, for a race that is now yet another casualty of hurricane sandy. diane? >> all right, dan, thank you. and we know what was haunting even a lot of those athletes. take a look. parts of the city were celebrating tonight as their lights came back on. but in so many other places, a very different story. families were bundling up to keep warm in the bitter cold. take a look. a baby suedele esuedeled in the.

a family huddles for warmth in their home, choosing their own house over a shelter. and everywhere, there are those lines, waiting for even a few gallons of gasoline. and abc's alex perez has been out all day with the families, waiting. >> reporter: in lower manhattan tonight, hundreds of new yorkers lined up for food. for many, the first hot meal they've had in days. but while the power is turning on right now, thousands throughout the region are still bracing for a very cold night. here, a baby bundled up, surrounded by candles. a woman keeping warm by a makeshift campfire. help arriving in blacked out communities like staten island and the rockaways, where neighbors are planning for another night in dark homes. >> really a dangerous, dangerous situation. and it's a real dangerous place in the dark. >> reporter: 1.3 million people are still without power tonight in new york. in new jersey, 1.5 million. even those lucky enough to have

generators are worried that gas is running out. where there's a working pump, you'll find endless lines of people. ben is one of them. three hours, he's been waiting in this new jersey line to fill his two-gallon container. he's been using extra blankets to keep his baby son warm. >> it's freezing cold. nights are not nice, you know, we have to go to places and warm up things and come back home. >> reporter: from lines of people to lines of cars, stretched down both sides of a highway, waiting to fill up. wow. >> seven hours here already. >> reporter: more than half the gas stations in new york city, long island and new jersey are shut down tonight. many, because they have no power. but others are just tapped out. complicating matters, sandy shut down new york harbor and most of the tanker refueling terminals. tack on damaged roads, it's been hard to get gas to stations. >> so, there's a shortfall,

shortage of fuel. there is one. >> reporter: tonight, new york's port is open for gas tankers. the governor easing regulation to get the fuel into the harbor. in new jersey, fema and the national guard are working with gas companies to supply empty stations. >> so, we're on top of the gas situation. >> reporter: and that help could not come any sooner, diane. even at this hour, there is still a long line of people waiting for gas here at this station in clifton, new jersey. the owner items me he got a full gas delivery early this morning. he expects to be completely dry within an hour. diane? >> and we saw one of those people waiting rubbing his hands in the cold. thank you, alex. and, a couple of notes on the storm right now, we want to tell you the latest on those natural gas leaks in the town of seeside heights, new jersey. you'll remember we showed you the hissing leaks, residents terrified of fire. well, tonight, we can report that new jersey natural gas has

shut off all the gas valves. the danger, they tell us, is over. and, so many of you wanted to know about the 53-year-old woman we met yesterday while we were climbing the dark stairs in her apartment building. we encountered her, she said she had had chest pain. so, we took her to the emergency room and tonight, we're happy to report, the hospital has released her and the visiting nurses are telling us that they're going to be checking in on her in her home. and now, we move onto the new jobs report out today. the last one before the presidential election. and it showed 171,000 jobs created last month. beating predictions. the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9%, as more americans rejoin the search for a job. and this, with just four days to go until americans go to the polls, your voice, your vote. and there in the corner of your screen, our abc news presidential countdown clock. as abc's jack tapper tells us

tonight how the president plans to cross the finish line in first place. >> hello, ohio! >> reporter: as he made his way across the pivot albumeye state, the cornerstone of his midwestern firewall, president obama cast himself in the same bipartisan way that appealed to independent voters four years ago. >> over the last four years, the status quo in washington has fought us every step of the way. >> reporter: it would be unusual for a democratic president to actually suggest it would be okay with him if voters went for a congressional candidate other than a democrat. but, eager to paint himself as not part of the problem in washington, the president did just that at every stop. >> as long as i'm president, you know, i've said i will work with anybody of any party to move this country forward. if you want to break the gridlock in congress, you'll vote for leaders who feel the same way whether they're democrat, republican or independent. >> reporter: president obama seemedized and confident today. he actually did a little jig at

this last stop here in lima, ohio. obama campaign officials are talking up their early voting program, years in the making. with republicans more reliable election day voters, the argument goes, democrats have built up a bank of early votes, ones that make wink those battleground states a tougher challenge for romney. obama campaign officials argue polls of early voters in battleground states suggest their bank of obama votes means that romney will have to win on election day well more than half the votes in key states to win. but the president is not relying solely on early voting or even on this new rekindled bipartisan pitch. in this state alone, diane, president obama and his allies have run 16,000 more ads than romney and his allies. and if that's not enough for you, on monday, president obama will be back here in ohio with bruce springsteen. diane? >> okay, thank you jake. and also tonight, the latest in our brand new daily abc news/"washington post" polls.

tonight, the poll gives mitt romney a one-point edge. so, we asked abc's david muir to tell us his strategy for the final stretch. >> reporter: mitt romney bolting through the battlegrounds. today, on the plane, it was the candidate taking pictures. romney capturing images of his staff sneaking a nap as romney races to the finish. in just the last 24 hours, virginia -- >> virginia, we're going to win on november 6th, i'll tell you that. >> reporter: wisconsin. >> god bless the people of wisconsin. thank you. >> reporter: and tonight, ohio. >> wow, it's good to be back. >> reporter: romney supporters with their own version of that obama rallying cry of "four more years." >> four more days! >> you got that right. >> reporter: and today, romney's closing argument, meant to appeal to the moderate voters, the sliver in the middle that might still be persuadable. promising to work the other party, with this attack aimed at the president. >> he promised he'd have a post-partisan presidency. but it's been the most partisan i've seen, with bitterness and

division and demonization. hallmarks of his presidency. >> reporter: the romney campaign eager to move past those images of chris christie applauding the president's response this week to hurricane sandy. tonight, the campaign tells me they're ground game in the swing statements is far ahead of where john mccain's was four years ago. here in ohio, they believe romney's strength among independents will fuel a win here. in the sub burrs surrounding cincinnati, all matted phones, dozens dialing at once. listen to this volunteer that reaches a coveted voter who's clearly had ththeir phone ring before. >> you're not being punished. think of it is you are well liked. >> reporter: consider yourself very liked, as they call those voters over and over again. tonight, the governor joined by his wife ann, his five sons and by kid rock, diane, look over my shoulder here tonight. he's rocking out the crowd for thousands. and i got a kick out of this. he just had the crowd singing "sweet home cincinnati." so even kid rock is tailoring his message to the voters here

in a key battleground. diane. >> thank you so much, david muir reporting in. and now, i want to bring in abc political news analyst matthew dowd. four days out. what are you seeing? >> we're at the end of the 700 days that this has been going on and we're in the final dames of it and it's going to be the most expensive, the most divisive and probably the most election we've seen in our modern times of this political campaign. it's an amazing situation. but many people aren't waiting. >> no, they're out voting early. what do we know about that? can we read tea leaves? >> you can take a look at it, when you see the lines up in georgia and lines that have gone on, as we see, lined around the block, people not waiting for the finish line, they're wanting to do it earlier. 25 million people have already cast votes early. by time election day comes, more than a third, maybe even 40% of the people are going to have voted early. we're going to set a record for number of people voted and people that vote before election day.

>> so, election day is a moving target. >> yeah. >> in america. >> exactly. that's one of the things campaigns have to plan, it's no longer one day, it's multiple days. >> i know that you'll be joining george stephanopoulos and his political roundtable, his powerhouse team, this sunday on a special election edition of "this week." and mark the date, tuesday night, george and i and the abc news political team will be in our election headquarters, joining you as americans go to the polls to election a president. and coming up next, the race against time to save a noah's ark of sea creatures, 12,000 otters, sea lions, even a baby walrus. how do you evacuate a shark? that's next. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists

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otters and a baby walrus, may need to evacuate. you can see how close, how vulnerable the aquarium was to the water. that's the atlantic ocean just yards away. while the area businesses were able to evacuate ahead of the storm, there was no way to evacuate all the animals. if the call is made to go, it will be a massive effort. one expert today said not only will specialized cages be needed, but evacuating a shark alone requires a 12,000-gallon fish tank. as for the aquarium's famous baby walrus, rescued from alaska, it was a massive effort to deliver the baby to the aquarium. he weighs nearly 250 pounds. tonight, the aquarium says generators have operated some power. while we see heartwarming images of pefts rescued, now, the decision will be made soon whether it's time to rescue these animals, too.

paula faris, abc news, new york. and more tonight on this story on "20/20" at 10:00 eastern time. and, a lot of other unexpected heroes from the storm, as well. coming up here, our portrait of a president. tonight, what does this hollywood starlet have to do with mitt romney? we're going to tell you, next. what's next? he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include

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we found old footage from mgm, promoting their new find. she was mormon and so was her suitor, named george romney. who kept coming out to california to pursue her. and so she gave up a lucrative contract to follow him back home. at a detroit prep school, their youngest son mitt was a jokester, a member of the pep club. at liberal berkeley university, he made headlines for protesting against the people who were sitting in against the vietnam war. but romney deferred military service to fulfill his mormon duty and served as a missionary in france. and while he was away, it was his father who guided the love of his son's life, ann davies, in her conversion into the church. >> she's done the most important task in our family, by far, which is she took primary responsibility for raising five extraordinary sons. >> reporter: their devotion to their faith so strong, in 1981,

romney told a fellow bain executive, he was planning to give nearly half of his salary to the church. in an earlier interview, i was curious about the fact he doesn't drink caffeine. >> the church says no coffee or tea, it doesn't literally say caffeine. >> reporter: it doesn't? >> yeah, i try to avoid caffeine drinks, but so, if there's a caffeine free diet coke, i'll take it. but regular, i pass it up. >> reporter: and i heard that every other day, he weighs himself, to take off any pound the campaign has put on. >> that's good. if i found out i gained a couple of pounds, okay, just don't eat as much. >> oh, i hate him. >> reporter: never, ever entered my mind. >> you know, i -- i pretty much eat what i want to eat but if i notice i gained a few pounds, it's like, oh, got to slow down a bit. and, you know, otherwise, you could get as large as a house, so -- you got to watch it.

>> reporter: a candidate in fighting shape. after years of seeking the presidency. >> talk about the big challenges that america faces. >> reporter: in our interview with president obama, we ask his message for any new president. and tonight, what governor romney said in that previous interview when i asked his message for the man in the oval office now. >> start packing. that's what i'd like to say. and coming up next here on "world news," lessons in resilience, as survivors of the storm, big and small, show us how to find courage. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and...

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and now, something special we want to tell you about. on monday, right here at abc, it is a day of giving. our programs from dawn to dusk will be participating in a call to action to help everyone in the path of the storm. and for more information on how you can donate, please go to abcnews.com and join us on monday. and as we say good night, we want to show you images from this long week. and that bruce springsteen concert in upstate new york last

night, where he played "my city of ruins" and paid tribute to everyone affected by the storm. good night. >> i want to send this out to all the folks who have been working so hard in new jersey. ♪ my city of ruin ♪ come on rise up ♪ come on rise up ♪ come on rise up ♪